Date Published: 06/27/09

The Unity Forum

(Peace, Unity and Progress Association)

Suite 207 APC Plaza Nr. 12 Cape Town Str. Off IBB Way, Zone 4 Wuse, Abuja Tel: 08033063826, 08033584659, 08033041663

The Niger Delta Crisis: Beyond the Amnesty

At its meeting of Wednesday June 24, the Unity reviewed the situation in the Niger Delta region, noted the agitation for development and prevention of environmental degradation in the Niger Delta and agreed that the issue should certainly be of national concern and should attract the attention and intervention of all well meaning Nigerians. The Federal Government at various times has shown great concern to the situation in Niger Delta through sustained intervention from the time of OMPADEC established under the Babangida administration to the NDDC of Obasanjo’s administration to the most recent, the Ministry of Niger Delta development. Furthermore, Nigeria conceded to 13% derivation on oil revenue to be given to the states where oil is produced to compensate for the pressure the exploration activity puts on the people and the environment. This makes the states in the delta region to earn as much as five times more than an average state outside the region. In fairness, the average Nigerian has shown sufficient sympathy, understanding and support to the legitimate concerns of the condition in the region.

advertisement

In addition, and to assuage the citizens coming from the region, the Federal Government instituted affirmative action in the employment into federal institutions including the army and other security agencies, just so as to give the region a full sense of belonging and participation. Oil companies operating in the region also commit considerable resource to their host communities in the areas of education and health infrastructure and consumables, scholarships, youth empowerment and employment. This is in addition to their statutory corporate responsibilities. Other international donor agencies also give specific attention to the region. For proper coordination of all development efforts in the Niger Delta, the Obasanjo administration introduced a forum of stakeholders that met quarterly to review grievances, gaps and challenges from all sections of the conflict and suggested ways and means of resolving them. It worked momentarily.

It is a fact that despite these efforts, the local leadership in the region has failed to complement this global approach to the intervention and instead of looking critically at their corrupt and incompetent ways of handling of the matter they continued to accuse the Federal government and other sections of Nigeria for the woes of the region. Some of the leaders armed and used the unengaged youth to contain their political opponents and therefore grab power by the use of force. Afterwards these heavily armed youth, popularly called militants, became available for criminal activities like economic sabotage, illegal bunkering, kidnapping and killings. Through the activities of these corrupt and criminal elements calling themselves leaders, sophisticated arms are amassed in large quantity, which in turn increased the criminality and violence, perpetually endangering the lives and property of law abiding citizens. There began an emergence of Somali type of warlordism.

Unfortunately the people of Niger Delta are being hoodwinked by these same leaders into believing that these criminalities and the legitimate campaign are seamless and that the fault lies elsewhere. In addition, a section of the media has helped to fuel and confuse the matter causing disaffection in the society, giving an impression of total insecurity and projecting the country in bad light. The criminality has assumed a life of its own and no responsible government will surrender its sovereignty by folding its arms and allowing this lawlessness to continue. It therefore became necessary for the government to ensure the safety of lives and property of Nigerians and foreigner in the region by intervening. Aware that the criminals are also Nigerians, the ministry of defence deploys the use of minimum force to stabilize the region.

Considering the human and material cost of the military intervention, it is necessary that the matter be resolved as quickly as possible. The military campaign undertaken by the Joint Task Force (JTF) and the success registered so far are positive and ought to have been sustained. However, the Federal Government in its wisdom decides to extend friendship to the militants at this critical time of the campaign. The current amnesty proposal which includes generous incentives and appeasement by the Federal Government is magnanimous and a clear show of goodwill by the government. It is our hope that the gesture will be reciprocated by the militants by laying their arms and giving peace a chance for the overall interest of all. We in the Unity Forum therefore wish to:-

We believe the crisis in the Niger Delta cannot be resolved with military might alone but we trust that other measures will be developed accordingly at the appropriate time.

M. M. Abdu (Signed)

Chairman